Bodison to receive AOTF Ayres Award
January 1, 2019

Assistant Professor of Research Stefanie Bodison ’92, MA ’93, OTD ’10 has been named the 2019 recipient of the American Occupational Therapy Foundation’s A. Jean Ayres Award.

The Ayres award recognizes commitment to research-related development or testing of occupational therapy theory, especially in the area of sensory processing. The award is given in honor of A. Jean Ayres ’45, MA ’54, whose concentration on developing theory in support of occupational therapy practice from the 1960s to ’80s was greatly significant to the profession. Ayres was also a former USC faculty member.

Bodison has been specializing in sensorimotor and neurodevelopmental intervention techniques with children for more than 20 years. The populations with which she has particular interest include typically developing children and those with autism, developmental dyspraxia, sensorineural hearing loss, prenatal alcohol exposure, developmental coordination disorder, and learning disabilities. Bodison’s current research focuses on the use of brain imaging techniques such as MRI and functional MRI to investigate the neural mechanisms of sensorimotor integration in typically developing children and those with a variety of neurodevelopmental conditions.

Bodison will become the 12th Trojan to receive the Ayres award. Former winners include USC Chan faculty members Grace Baranek, Erna Blanche MA ’88, PhD ’98, Sharon Cermak and Elizabeth Yerxa ’52, MA ’53, and alumni Janice Burke MA ’75, Dottie Ecker ’57, MA ’69, Gary Kielhofner MA ’75, Susan Knox MA ’68, PhD ’97, Zoe Mailloux ’77, MA ’81, OTD ’12, L. Diane Parham MA ’81 and Susanne Smith Roley OTD ’12.

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